Hinged seat for vehicles.



J. L. BEESON- HINGED SEAT FOR VEHICLES.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 6, .1912.

1,0975 1 2., v Patented May 19, 1914.

J 5 5 I 6 6 i i 4 m 522% El ATTORNEYS ENT orFIo HENGEB WORD VETIIGZLE$JSpecification of Le tt'er's Patent.

Patented May 19, 191 1.

Application filed. August 6, 1912. Scria1No.713,54 l.

Lions, constructions, and arrangements herein described and claimed.

An object of my invention is to provide a device whichscrves as the backof the front seat ofthc vehicle, and which may be let down so as totransform the front and. rear seats into a bed.

A further object of niy invention is to provide a, simple device for thepurpose described. which may be iiised for camping purposes, and whichwhen replaced in its normal position will have the appearance of a seatof the ordinary construction.

7 A further object of my invention is to provide means for holding; thehinged back in its normal position, said means also serving as a handlefor the occupants of the rear seat,

Other objects and advantages will appear in the following;specification, and'the novel features of the device will be particularlypointed out in the appended claims.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings forming" partof this? application in which Figure 1 is a longitudinal section throughthe front and rear seats, showing the use of the invention, Fig. 2 is asection along the line 22 of Fig. 1, showing a rear View of the back ofthe front seat, Fig. is a view of a modified form of the device, Fig. 4iis a face view of a modified form of b1acket,'and Fig. 5 is aside viewof the bracket shown in Fig. 4-.

in carrying out my invention 1 make use of any vehicle, such as anautomobile. ln Fig. 1, the floor of the body of such a vehicle is shownat 1, the front seat at 2, the rear seat at 3. Both the rear seat andthe front seat have upholstery h'which may be of any suitable material.

Hinged to the front seat at 5 is a back 6, whichhas upholstery 4tsimilar to that shown at 4:. As will be seen from the draw hugs the back6 is designed to swing downwardly and rearwardly, so as' to bring the'upholstered portion 4 in a-lineinent with the upholstered portion 4 ofthe front and seats. In order to supper-t the back 6 in its horizontalposition I provide the supports 7 of any suitable material, which arehinged at 8 to the bottom 1 of the vehicle body. These are designed tobe raised into the dotted line position shown in Fl. 1, so as to-supportthe back. i

At therear of the front seat are secured brackets having eyes 9 arrangedto register with similar eyes 10 on the hinged back 6. A rod 11' isprovided with a knob 12, and a similar knob 13 at the other end..lfiither of these knobs, or both oft-hem, may be screwed onto the rod11, as shown at 13. The rod 11 may be passed through the regi's teringeyes, so as to hold the seat back 6 in ltS llOllllitl position.

From the fd'egoing description of the various parts of the device theoperation thereof may be readily understood.

When the vehicle is to be used for pleasure the seat back 6 may besecured as described. The appearance of the seat back 6, from the rearis that shown in Fig. 2. The rod 11 forms a hand held forthe 0ccupantsof the rear'seat 3, and to passersby or to any one who does not closelyexamine the device, the seat has the appearance of the ordinary frontseat. of an automobile. If it is desired to convert the seats into a bedfor sleeping; purposes or to use the car as an ambulance, it is onlynecessary to unscrew one of the knobs such as 13,

withdraw the rod 11, raise the supports 7 into the position shown indotted lines in Fig. 1, and to let the seat back 6 downwardly upon it. Ipreferably place the rod 11 in such a position. that it will engage thesupports 7 on one side thereof. This locks the board 7 in position, forit will beapparent that it cannot swing forwardly on account ofengagement with the rod, and it cannot swing rearwardly because of theengagement of the square edge with the floor. There is therefore nodanger of the supports 7 being shifted. This forms a bed or couch, whichis ready for sleeping purposes.

' lln Fig. 3 I have shown a modified form of the device, which isapplicable to large touring cars. In this form of the device the backing6 is designed-to swing downwardly an to rest upon supports suchos thatshown at 7 which are hinged on each side to the sills of the body. Therear seat 3 is provided with a hinged member 3 which is upholstered.This member is arranged to swing upwardly so as to-rest on the supports7", thereby making a flat bed of the back and front and the seat 3.

I may also use a form of bracket shown in Figs. 4 and 5. In thesefigures the base portion 9 is arranged to be secured to the back of thefront seat. v There is a portion 9 which projects outwardly andupwardly, and which is slotted at 9 to receive the rod 11. '-When thisform of bracket is used in lieu of the brackets 9 in Fig.2, it will beapparent that it will be only necessary to raise the rod out of' theslotted end of the brackets in order to permit the seat to swingdownwardly. In this form ofthe device the eyes 10 are made large enoughso that the rod may have enough play to clear the ends of the slottedeyes 9. This Will permit the back to swing down without withdrawing therod from the eyes 10 and hence will not necessitate getting out of thevehicle to let down the seat.

\ I claim:

l. The combination With the front and rear seats of a vehicle, of a backhinged to said front seat,'means for locking said back in its normalposition, said means comprising a plurality of registering brackets onsaid back and the frame of the seat, said brackets having aimed eyes,and a rod ar ranged to extend through said alined eyes a pair ofrigidsupports hinged at one end seat, the member 3" 'horizontal positionby the ngag m ntiof said rod with the upper ends of the supports.

2. The combination with the frontand rear seats of a vehicle, of a backhinged to said front seat, means for locking sald back in its normalposition, said means compris- 'ing a plurality of registering bracketson said back and the frame of the seat, said brackets having alined.eyes and a rod arranged to extend through said alined eyes, a pair ofrigid supports hinged at one end to the bottom of thecvehicle andarranged to swing rearwardly into vertical position for supporting theback of the front seat in a horizontal position, the hinge for eachvertical support-being on one side of the support, and the engagement ofthe i opposite side of the hinged end of the support with the floor ofthe vehicle serving to prevent the movement of. the support beyond itsvertical position, each of'said supports being prevented from swingingon their hinges when the front seat is in a ports.

JASPER LUTI-Ilillt BEESON.

Witnesses:

IL L. HAUcH'roN, GILEs DUNN.

